The Animal Within
by thenextcujo
Summary: Buffy meets some unexpected allies, and is pulled into a whole new war WIP chap 4 uploaded
1. Friends of feather

Crossover: Buffy and the Animorphs Summary: Buffy meets some unexpected allies, and is pulled into a whole new war. Rating: Pg-13 for searing and violence Disclaimer: I own none of Joss Whedon's or K.A Applegate's characters.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Buffy stuck her stake through the vamp, dusting him, then quickly spun around and landed a roundhouse kick on the second one who had sloppily tried to sneak up behind her. The vamp howled in pain, and Buffy used the opportunity to stake him too. She dusted herself off, then casually turned and walked out of the cemetery, completely oblivious to the red tailed hawk that was watching her from a nearby tree. The hawk watched her go with his fearsome gaze, then flapped his wings and swooped majestically from the tree and into the night sky.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Tobias dropped into his tree and waited for the group to arrive. Ax was the first, dashing gracefully over the fallen branches and roots of the dense forest, his blue fur contrasting heavily with the foliage and making him look truly alien to the environment. {Hey Ax-man.} Tobias greeted, {Any sign of the others?}  
  
{They will be arriving shortly. What is so urgent, my friend?} Ax questioned.  
  
{Just wait till everyone gets here.} Tobias replied excitedly. {Trust me though, it's big, and I mean BIG.}  
  
Moments later an odd assortment of birds including an eagle, a falcon, and two identical ospreys landed in a clearing several feet away. The group of birds began to change, their feathers melting like wax, and their bones crunching and shifting as the small birds slowly and gruesomely took on human form. Once the group had finished de-morphing, Ax trotted over to them and Tobias landed on a small rock in front of him, beginning to pace back and forth, which made for a very odd sight. {Okay guys, let me just start by saying that whatever Marco may have told you, I am completely sane, and I swear this is the truth.}  
  
Marco raised an eyebrow, looking curious and simultaneously annoying Rachel, who swatted him. "Well?" Jake asked, "Don't keep us waiting, what is it?"  
  
{I will, I will. But first I have to ask you a question. Do any of you believe in vampires?} Tobias asked silently, his piercing gaze sweeping across them.  
  
"Yeah," Marco said sarcastically, "the tooth fairy told me all about them."  
  
{What is a vampire?} Ax asked curiously.  
  
"A vampire is a fictional monster." Cassie explained. "They are dead humans who rise at night and suck blood from the living. They're supposedly already dead, so only sunlight, a wooden stake, or fire is supposed to kill them."  
  
"You forgot decapitation." Rachel added grinning.  
  
{Okay, so safe to say the answer is no.} Tobias conceded. {Well last night, I found out that they are real. As in, there are real, no bullshit, dead humans walking around at night who suck blood from the living.}  
  
"Dude I think you might want to start hunting in a new area, cuz there is something seriously wrong with whatever the hell you're eating now." Marco stated.  
  
Cassie cast Tobias a worried glance. "Tobias are you feeling alright? I mean, as crude as Marco is, he is right, hallucinations can be caused by what you're eating."  
  
Tobias sighed inwardly. {I knew you guys would be like this. Come on, I'm serious! I took a little trip a couple of towns over, to a place called Sunnydale. I saw a couple of vamps rise from graves in a cemetery, then a girl came in and staked them. They just turned into clouds of dust and evaporated.}  
  
"Even if vampires did exist, wouldn't we know about it by now? How could they keep themselves secret?" Jake asked.  
  
{Well first of all, we have all heard of vampires, so clearly they don't keep themselves a secret. And besides, given all the damage we've done, you'd figure people would be a little more curious about us, but people just seem to buy whatever the news or the paper says. People believe what they want to believe.}  
  
"And who would want to believe in vampires?" Rachel finished. "Come on guys, let's check it out." She said in her usual gung-ho fashion. "We might even get some powerful morphs out of the deal."  
  
Jake considered for a moment, looking very thoughtful. Then he shrugged. "Why not? Hell I still don't know if I believe this, but we're not doing anything right now anyways. All seems quiet on the Yeerk front. I guess since we're looking for vampires, we should go at night. Everyone meet back here at 6, and make an excuse in case we end up out the whole night."  
  
Marco groaned. "Man! But Family Guy is on tonight! Besides, whenever we leave town I seem to get into trouble."  
  
"So come up with a better excuse." Rachel said simply. "Aren't you supposed to be witty or something?"  
  
"Alright, alright." Marco said raising his hands in surrender. "I'll see you guys here at six."  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
A group of six owls flew silently over the town of Sunnydale.  
  
{Wow.} Cassie commented. {This must be an awfully old town, look at all the graveyards.}  
  
{Yeah.} Marco added.  
  
{Either that or about five hundred people a year die. Can we make this quick? This whole town gives me the creeps.}  
  
{Aww, wittle baby Marco. You can turn into a 500 pound gorilla but a few graveyards creeps you out?} Rachel demanded.  
  
{Guys! That's the girl I saw yesterday.} Tobias reported, and the group looked down onto a street to see a pretty blond girl who looked somewhere around 20.  
  
{Umm, she doesn't look much like the fighting type.} Jake said.  
  
As Jake said that, the girl turned a corner and walked into an alley, only to see a vampire tearing into a girls neck, who was trying to scream but failing because of the vampire's hand over her mouth.  
  
{Oh. My. God.} Rachel said in awe.  
  
The vampire looked up as the girl entered the alley, then dropped his now unconscious victim and started towards the girl, his mouth red and dripping with blood.  
  
{Okay. I am not seeing this. Maybe this guy's just a deranged psycho or something. There is no way I'm looking at a real, goddamn vampire!} Marco babbled.  
  
{Yeah?} Tobias countered. {Take a good look at his face.}  
  
The group did, only to see that whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. It had two long fangs, beady yellow eyes, and a ridged forehead that made it look decidedly mosterish. Still looking at the girl, he snarled, "Slayer."  
  
"Slayee." The girl replied, producing a stake from beneath her coat. The vamp lunged at her, but she easily sidestepped the lunge and spun, kicking the vamp in the back of the head. He cried out, then turned around and threw a sloppy punch that the girl easily blocked. The girl then threw two quick jabs of her own, and while the vamp was stunned, she stabbed him through the heart with a wooden stake, and the vampire disintegrated into a pile of dust.  
  
{I like this girl already.} Rachel said happily.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Buffy looked at the pile of dust with a satisfied expression on her face, then she suddenly had the strange feeling she was being watched. Actually, she had been having it for a while now, she just pushed it away while she fought the vampire. Buffy turned to look around, but saw no one standing around. Buffy looked up in time to catch a group of owls leaving the scene. 'Since when do owls fly in groups?' Buffy thought. She shrugged, figuring she might want to mention it to Giles when she saw him next.  
  
End chapter 1  
  
Just so everyone who hasn't read the Animorph books knows, {anything in these} means telepathic communication. I know that isn't what's used in the book but for some reason fanfiction deletes everything I put in the actual symbol. What does everyone think? Please leave a review! 


	2. Strange meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own blah blah blah  
  
Okay, here's some information I forgot to include in the first chapter:  
  
Animorphs timeline: Somewhere in the middle, after Tobias gets back his powers, before they meet the other Andalites, after their trip to the Yoort home world, so maybe 28 or so.  
  
Buffy Timeline: Somewhere in season 5. Dawn is here but Glory has not yet showed up.  
  
Pairings: haven't decided yet  
  
Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate the support. And don't worry Joshua the Evil Guy, it was never my intention to make Buffy or any of the Scoobies a Controller.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"So what's a slayer?" Marco asked, lounging on a rock.  
  
Jake shrugged. "I dunno. Never heard of it."  
  
"A slayer is a chosen one, one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, and hold back the forces of darkness." Rachel quoted.  
  
The group, even Ax, stared at her. She sighed. "When I was 13, a guy came up to me, told me he was my watcher, or something like that. He said I was a potential, that I could be called as the slayer at anytime, and it was his duty to train me. I figured he was nuts, and crossed the street to get away. He followed, but a car hit him. He died on his way to the hospital. I guess he wasn't nuts."  
  
"So you could have been the slayer." Marco said wryly. "Well that explains a lot."  
  
"So what does that mean for us?" Cassie asked. "If she's still doing it, she's probably not a Controller. If she were we would have fought her by now. But at the same time, she's got her own battles to fight. We should probably try not to involve her."  
  
{I guess that depends on your definition of forces of darkness.} Tobias added.  
  
"You're not thinking of any kind of recruitment, are you?" Marco asked suspiciously, "Because I think we all remember what happened with David. Remember how he went all, what's the word I'm looking for, INSANE?!"  
  
"That was different." Jake argued. "The slayer is already battle hardened."  
  
"Yeah, against vampires. How do you think she'll deal with having to save the world?" Marco pointed out.  
  
{I can watch her.} Tobias said. {See how she handles herself for the next few days. See if anyone she knows is a Controller.}  
  
"You sure?" Rachel asked, worried.  
  
Tobias mentally sighed. {Look, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'm tired of winning minor battles, slowing but not stopping the invasion. I'm tired of fighting, of losing. I'm tired of listening to Visser Three proclaim our fate, and most of all I'm just tired. I'm beat, bagged. I need a break, and this will be just it. And just think, if we could recruit a few more allies, maybe we could do more than just slow them down. Maybe we could do some real damage. It's summer, you guys just go home and actually take a couple days off while Ax and I scope this out, then we'll decide what to do from there.}  
  
Jake nodded. "Okay, you two do it. The rest of us will just relax."  
  
Rachel smiled. "Sweet, I'm hitting the mall."  
  
"Yeah, okay." Marco conceded, then he shrugged. "Maybe I'm overreacting anyway, I mean Sunnydale is a small town, what are the odds the Yeerks have even set foot there?"  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey Giles what does it mean when you see a flock of owls?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Umm, a flock of what?" Giles asked, taking off his glasses and rubbing them.  
  
"You know, owls. Birds that fly at night, and eat mice and go, 'hoot hoot'?"  
  
"Yes I'm aware of what an owl is but I've never heard of them as a flock." Giles retorted. "I can't think of any significance though."  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Okay, I just wanted to check. Anyway, I'm gonna go for a patrol. Let me know if you find anything." Buffy grabbed her coat and headed out of Giles house where they had been researching an obscure demon type that Riley had seen for the last two hours. She stuffed her hands into her pocket, one of which contained her stake, then tried her best to look helpless as she wandered the streets looking for her prey.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Tobias and Ax were floating several hundred feet up, watching Buffy with their huge owl eyes, when they saw a problem. {Ax, is it just me, or is she about to get ambushed by about 15 vampires?}  
  
{No, Tobias. I believe you are correct, she is walking into a trap.} Ax agreed. Buffy was slowly making her way towards the mausoleum in one of cemeteries, unaware that a gang of vampires were about to ambush her from several angles.  
  
{I know she's tough, but I don't think this is a fight she's gonna win. It's been three days. I think we better help her Ax.} Tobias decided.  
  
{But we don't have Price Jake's permission.} Ax countered.  
  
{Fuck it! She's gonna die right here if we don't help her.} As he flew, Tobias slowly melted back into his faster and more comfortable hawk body, losing only a little altitude as the changes took place. {I'm going Hork Bajir. Oddly enough, it will probably look least out of place. You can probably just demorph, Ax. I don't think any of the vampires are Controllers.}  
  
Tobias landed in the cover of a small grove of trees, then began to change again. His feathers melted into his growing body, then vanished altogether into the coarse, leathery skin that now covered him. Blades exploded out of his knees, arms, wrists, and head, and muscles began to bulge over his seven-foot frame. The tips of his wings transformed into deadly looking claws. Tobias hunched low to stay hidden, and waited. Ax had also landed and was shifting back into his natural Andalite form. As soon as Ax was fully alien again, Tobias crept out of the bushes, still trying to stay as covered as a 7 foot bladed alien could.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Buff walked in front of the mausoleum, looking around it. Suddenly she sensed vampires. Not surprisingly, three stepped out from the shadows, game faces on. "Well well." One of them crowed. "The slayer, what a surprise to see you."  
  
"Surprise?" Buffy asked. "You must be new here. That or stupid."  
  
The vamps eyes narrowed. "I'm stupid?" Suddenly, vampires were all around here. More than ten, more like fifteen. "Seems you're the one who just walked into a trap. Me an the boys have been talking, we decided we're pretty sick of you running things around here."  
  
Buffy looked at the circle of vamps that surrounded her and swore inwardly. 'Son of a bitch. Well, if I go down, I go down fighting.'  
  
Before any of the vampires could move, the sound of heavy stomping was heard behind them. The vampires turned, only to see a huge, bladed monster rushing them. The monster raised one arm whipped it forward, cleanly slicing off the heads of two vampires in one swipe. "What the hell is that thing?" one of the vamps cried, rushing at it fangs bared. The creature swatted at it with its' bladed wrists, slashing its' stomach and throwing the vamp into a nearby tombstone. As the vampires began to concentrate on the creature, yet another bounded into view. It had the body of a deer, except blue, and a torso similar to a human. It also had a long tail with a wicked looking blade on the end.  
  
FWAAAP! The tail snapped forward faster than Buffy could follow, and the vampire in front of the creature suddenly had no head or arms. The limbless torso turned to dust as it fell.  
  
In a matter of seconds, only three vampires were left, now standing in the center of Buffy and the two creatures. FWAAAP! The blue thing whipped its' tail forward and two of the vamps no longer had heads. The third one vaulted the tombstone it was standing next to and tried to run. Buffy however, suddenly unfroze and pulled the stake from her pocket. She spun it then expertly whipped it at the vamp, catching it through the heart in mid stride.  
  
Buffy turned to look at her odd saviors. "Umm, thanks." She said. "I gotta say I've never been saved by demons before."  
  
The blue creature smiled, quite a feat considering he had no mouth. {We are not demons.} A voice said in Buffy's head.  
  
The other, bladed creature studied her. {You will hear from us soon.} A second head voice said.  
  
"Why?" Buffy asked, trying to ignore the fact that neither creature had actually spoken a word. Buffy was confused, they looked like demons, but they weren't setting off her slayer sense, and they did save her.  
  
{We need you help. We will tell you more when we contact you next.} The second voice said.  
  
Buffy shrugged. For some reason she instinctively knew she could trust them, they just didn't feel evil.  
  
{One more thing.} What Buffy had determined was the tall bladed one was.  
  
"What?"  
  
{Tell no one of this. Not your family, not your friends, no one. You must keep this secret, our lives depend on it. Do you understand?}  
  
Buffy nodded, and the two creatures walked into the shadows, leaving behind a very confused Slayer.  
  
End chap 2 


	3. Recruitment pitch

Thanks for the reviews everybody! Man, I have never received so much feedback so quickly. Just as a side note, Glory will not exist in this story, I have other plans for Dawn.mwuahaha! Anyways, on with the chapter!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"So what, EXACTLY, did you tell her?" Jake demanded.  
  
{Nothing.} Tobias confirmed. {She only knows that we will contact her. She didn't see us morph, and we didn't say anything to give ourselves away. She thought we were demons.}  
  
Marco groaned. "Demons are real too?"  
  
Jake paced back and forth. "This is happening faster than I would like. Dammit Tobias! I was hoping we could make this decision as a group, but it seems you've made it for us."  
  
{I'm sorry man, but she was toast if I didn't help. I had to do it. Look, we watched her for three days, as well as her friends. None of them are Controllers, and I'm pretty sure the whole town is Yeerk free. Not that it doesn't have it's own infestation problems.} Tobias trailed off. {Blame me though, Ax protested.}  
  
Jake sighed. "I know you had to do it. I would have done the same thing. So, now that you've got the ball rolling, any ideas on how we're gonna do this?"  
  
Tobias smiled inwardly. {I just might.}  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Buffy lay on her bed, thinking to herself about the events of two nights ago. She had kept her word and said nothing, but her friends could already tell she was hiding something. They hadn't started to press yet, but it was only a matter of time.  
  
Buffy was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of a ringing telephone. She grabbed the handset from her nightstand. "Hello?"  
  
"Buffy Summers?" A voice growled, sending a shiver down Buffy's spine. It was rough, low, and didn't sound entirely human.  
  
"Speaking." She answered, getting up to lock the door while she talked. "You were the one who saved me?"  
  
"No." The voice answered. "I did send them though. We need to meet. Will you house be empty at midday tomorrow?"  
  
Buffy thought. Her mother would be working, but Dawn didn't have school and might be harder to get rid of. "Maybe. My sister might be here."  
  
There was a pause on the line.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
{Dammit Tobias you didn't say anything about a sister!} Jake mentally yelled from his partially morphed state.  
  
{I'm sorry, I forgot. She's not a problem though. She mostly just hangs out with Buffy. In fact it might even be better if she were there. She'd figure it out anyway eventually.} Tobias said.  
  
{Tom's Yeerk still doesn't know about me.}  
  
{Tom's Yeerk isn't too bright.}  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"Very well." The gruff voice said. "We have decided it is better if she attends as well, but only the two of you. Your friends must not know, none of them. Do you understand? When the time comes they will be informed."  
  
Buffy sighed. "They already know I'm hiding something. I was never very good at keeping secrets from them. Besides, they might be able to help you. I owe you that much."  
  
One the other end, Jake considered. "My men told me that your boyfriend seems involved with the military in some way. Is he? Answer truthfully."  
  
'How the hell did they know that?' Buffy thought. "Yes."  
  
"He must not know. Your other friends can attend, he cannot."  
  
"But."  
  
"No! Only the three closest to you and your sister. This is not a discussion. If we see anyone uninvited attending, and believe me we will, the consequences will be dire. Your house, tomorrow at noon." The line went dead.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"The consequences will be dire! Oh me oh my!" Marco mocked. "Man that was over the top. I bet she would've been laughing if it wasn't for your voice."  
  
Rachel grinned. "You know how much I hate to agree with Marco, but."  
  
Jake reverted from his part human, part wolf form and his voice returned to normal. "Oh shut up you two." Jake turned serious. "Look, there are gonna be five of them at the meeting, which is way more than I would have liked. We're going to have to do this carefully, or it could blow up on us. Tobias and I are going to go in."  
  
{Me! Why me?} Tobias squeaked.  
  
"Because if it wasn't for you this might not even be happening." Jake snapped.  
  
{I hate going inside.} Tobias grumbled unhappily. {It's just so confined.}  
  
"Too bad. Cassie and Ax are going in too, but as flies. You'll be making sure no one is hiding nearby. Rachel, you'll be outside, waiting as support. Marco, you'll take over Tobias' role as our air force." Jake stated in his best leader voice. "Everyone clear?"  
  
"Ooh, he's just so manly and commanding." Marco cried, pretending to swoon.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Buffy opened the door to see Willow, Xander, and Giles standing in front of her.  
  
"Hey Buff what's up?" Xander asked lightly.  
  
Buffy ushered them inside. "The four of us and Dawn are going to wait here for." Buffy checked her watch, "the next 10 minutes."  
  
"Umm, why?" Willow asked.  
  
"Guys you might have noticed me hiding something the last few days." Buffy said truthfully.  
  
Willow sighed. "Finally, I was wondering if we were going to have to start pestering you. So what's the deal?"  
  
Buffy shook her head. "I don't know exactly. I think it has to do with owls I mentioned to you Giles. We're going to be meeting some, something in a few minutes."  
  
"Something?" Dawn asked, coming down the stairs from her room. "Like a demon something?"  
  
Buffy shook her head. "Maybe. I'm still not sure."  
  
Xander whistled. "Gee Buff, I gotta say this really isn't sounding too good. Sounds kind of like a set-up."  
  
"They saved my life." Buffy replied. "I owe them this much."  
  
Suddenly a knock was heard from Buffy's back door. Buffy rushed over and opened it expecting to see a huge bladed monster, instead she saw nothing. Then she heard a low growl and looked down instead of up. Standing at the door was a full-grown Siberian tiger, with a hawk perched on it's back. Buffy just stared, mouth open.  
  
{Umm, can we come in?} One of them asked.  
  
Buffy just nodded, still at a loss for words as she watched a tiger calmly enter the house and wipe it's feet on the mat before heading into the living room, the hawk still perched on its' back.  
  
"EEEEK!!!" Dawn and Willow screamed. Dawn dove behind a sofa, and Willow ducked behind Xander. "Buffy there's a tiger in here!" Xander shouted. "A really, big, mean looking tiger and, and a bird! A, well, a bird."  
  
{I'm a hawk, doofus.} Tobias said indignantly.  
  
"Oh, sorry. A hawk." Xander apologized, still watching the tiger, then his eyes widened. "Did a bird just talk to me?"  
  
"Xander, do shut up." Giles said exasperatedly.  
  
{Took the words right out of my mouth.} The tiger said, nodding to Giles. {Okay, down to business. Everyone take a seat.}  
  
Buffy and her group took seats, Dawn sitting as close as she could to Buffy without actually sitting on her, Willow sitting as far as possible from the tiger. Tobias flapped off of Jake and perched on the back of an unused chair, and started to preen himself.  
  
{Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Jake, and my feathery friend over there is Tobias.}  
  
Buffy spoke up. "What do you guys want?"  
  
{Let me answer that question with a question.} Jake countered. {If I told you that right now, the Earth was being invaded by aliens, what would you say?}  
  
"I'd say you were crazy." Dawn piped up.  
  
{Why?}  
  
"Where are the spaceships? The ray guns, the horrible slimy alien invaders? If Earth's being invaded, they sure are doing a bad job of it." Dawn answered.  
  
{I know exactly what you mean.} Jake answered. {I once thought the exact same thing. Unfortunately, I was wrong.}  
  
{You ready?} Tobias asked privately.  
  
Jake sighed. {Let's do this.} He answered. {The Earth is being invaded by a race of aliens called the Yeerks. The problem is, they don't want our planet, they don't want our cities, or our food, or our water.}  
  
"What do they want?" Dawn asked.  
  
Jake stared at her with his powerful feline gaze. {They want us. They want out bodies. You see, Yeerks are a parasitic race. A Yeerk is really just a big, six inch gray slug. The problem is, Yeerks have a peculiar ability. They flatten down their disgusting little bodies and crawl down your ear canal, right into your brain. Then they seep into all the cracks and crevices, and they take control. They take over your body, and you become their slave.}  
  
The five Scoobies stared at Jake. "I'm sorry," Xander blurted. "I need a minute here. A talking tiger that doesn't really talk just told me that the Earth is being invaded by mind-controlling slugs. Have I gone completely insane?"  
  
{Been there man.} Tobias said. {The night I found out I woke up the next day believing it was all a dream. Unfortunately, it's not. The Yeerks are getting more and more dangerous everyday, and not just here. There are six billion bodies on Earth to infest. That makes for a lot of new soldiers. And the worst part is, as far as we know, we're the only ones who fight them.}  
  
"What are you guys, anyway?" Buffy asked.  
  
{We're the Animorphs.} Jake answered. {The first and last line of defense against the Yeerks.}  
  
"So what, you're like natural protectors or something?"  
  
Jake sighed inwardly. {I am going to do something, and no matter how much it may shock you, I assure you everyone here is perfectly safe, so no one get up and attack me or anything. Ok?} The Scoobies nodded.  
  
The tiger in front of them suddenly started changing. His long, lithe tail suddenly sucked up and vanished. With a crack, the knee joints in the hind legs reversed, and the tiger stood up. The fur faded and vanished into the now pink skin, the fangs and claws drew back into normal teeth and nails, and before long, a boy of about 17 was standing in front of the group. He had wavy brown hair and blue eyes, and stood about as tall as Xander. He was wearing a tight t-shirt and long bicycle shorts. "Sorry about the clothes." He said sheepishly, "Morphing doesn't give you a lot of leeway in coverage."  
  
The Scoobies just stared, collective mouths hanging open. "You're human?" Giles blurted.  
  
Jake nodded. "Up until about 3 years ago I was just a normal kid. One day me and four of my friends were walking through an abandoned construction site on our way home from the mall when we saw a light coming down form the sky, or more specifically Tobias saw it. Anyway, as we watched an alien spaceship landed, and the pilot came out, badly wounded. I think you met his brother, Ax, the other night Buffy."  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"Anyway the Pilot, Elfangor, told us about the invasion. He gave us the only weapon he could to fight against them, the power to morph. All we need to do is touch an animal, and we can turn into it."  
  
"Wow!" Willow exclaimed. "That's an incredible ability!"  
  
{Yeah but it comes with a catch.} Tobias replied. {More than two hours in a morph, and you are stuck in that morph forever. I, the amazing Hawk Boy, am proof of that.}  
  
"But weren't you the big blady thing?" Buffy asked, "And moreover what was that?"  
  
{That was an alien race the Yeerks have enslaved called the Hork Bajir. And yeah I did but it was complicated. I'm still stuck as a hawk, I just got my morphing power back. Call it higher intervention.}  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes, remembering her own experiences with so called, 'higher powers.' "Oh man don't get me started on those guys."  
  
"Look, the Yeerks are everywhere." Jake said seriously. "Your favourite teacher, your best friend, the guy who runs the grocery store, any of them could be Controllers. Even members of your family." He said sadly.  
  
"Okay, so why are you telling us?" Xander asked. "Even for us this sounds kind of out of our league."  
  
"And it's not out of ours?!" Jake asked angrily. "I was fourteen when I started fighting to save the planet! Let me just say that that is WAY too much pressure for someone my age to take on. Anyway, the problem is, we aren't winning. We're slowing the Yeerks down, we've actually hurt them pretty badly a couple of times, but it's not enough. Every day, more and more people are being turned into Controllers. There are Yeerk pools in half the major cities in America." Jake shuddered at the word.  
  
"Yeerk pools?" Dawn asked.  
  
{Imagine hell, then think ten times worse. I've been down there a couple of times now, and every time it gets worse. You see, Yeerks need to return to a pool to feed every three days, so they make these huge underground structures, the size of two or three football fields. Then, every three days, the Yeerk returns to the pool and leaves his host, so the host is free for an hour or so.}  
  
"Oh dear god." Giles said, horrified.  
  
Jake shook his head. "The screams are horrible, people sobbing, threatening, pleading. But the worst are the ones who have been hosts for a long time. They know there is no escape, so they merely sit in their cages, devoid of any will to live, broken. I still have nightmares, and I probably always will." Jake's eyes grew cold. "I have to stop them, any way I can, I have to stop them."  
  
"What can we do?" Buffy asked.  
  
"We're here to recruit." Jake answered seriously, "Or at the very least I'd like to ask you to help us acquire some new morphs."  
  
"Like what?" Buffy asked suspiciously, "Vampires?"  
  
Jake nodded. "For a start."  
  
"Umm can we have a minute to think about this?" Xander asked.  
  
Buffy shook her head. "No Xander, we're going to do it."  
  
"What?! Why?" Xander demanded.  
  
"Because I owe them. Tobias saved my life, and they're trying to save it again. The least we can do is help them do it." Buffy answered sternly.  
  
Jake grinned. "Great, then I think it's time you met the team."  
  
End chap 3  
  
So how is it so far? Please let me know what you thought, even if you have criticism let me have it. Thanks for reading! 


	4. Responsibilty

Chapter 4  
  
"Whatever you do, from now on, try not to kill any animal. Even a tiny one, like a fly." Jake stressed. "I have been squashed before, it was not pleasant."  
  
There was a knock at the back door, and Buffy opened it to find a tall, pretty blonde girl in a leotard standing next to a shorter, darker guy with black hair and a suspicious look on his face. "Hey." She said, "I'm Rachel, and this is Marco. You must be Buffy."  
  
Buffy nodded. "Slayer of all things that go bump in the night. Come in." Rachel and Marco followed Buffy back to the family room. They got there in time to see Cassie walking down the stairs.  
  
"How did she, oh, she came in with you guys." Willow asked and answered.  
  
Cassie nodded. "I was a flea on Jake."  
  
"Guys," Jake said, "This is Rachel, Marco, and Cassie."  
  
"I thought you said there were six of you." Dawn said.  
  
"I was getting to that." Jake replied. "Before you meet him, I just want to let you know that he probably looks a lot like a demon or something. But he isn't, okay? He's an alien, an alien with no mouth, and four eyes, two of which are mounted on stalks, and are pretty disturbing, but try not to be weirded out."  
  
Everyone nodded, and Ax walked down the stairs gracefully and walked to the center of the family room, smiling with his eyes as only an Andalite can do at the awed group on the couch. {I am Aximili Esgarrouth Isthil, but Prince Jake insists on calling me 'Ax.' Feel free to do the same.}  
  
"Prince Jake?" Buffy asked expectantly.  
  
Jake rolled his eyes. "It's a rank or something. Don't ask. Anyways, now you know who we are, what we look like, and that most of us are human. That places a huge responsibility on your shoulders."  
  
"Aww come on!" Xander shouted. "We've been fighting to keep the forces of hell from erupting out of this town for years! Isn't that enough responsibility?"  
  
"WE'RE PREVENTING ALIENS FROM TAKING OVER THE PLANET!!" Rachel roared. "And what's more, we've been doing it since we were 14! I've seen more carnage than any world war two veteran, and trust me, I know because I've seen that too! And you know what the worst part is? Every Yeerk we fight, every Yeerk we kill, we kill the host too. Every enemy we take down is hiding in the body of an innocent creature, so don't say shit to me about responsibility! You guys have it friggin' easy! Did Jake tell you about his brother?"  
  
"Rachel." Jack warned.  
  
"No Jake, he's my cousin too and Xander needs things put in perspective!" She turned to glare at Xander, who was still staring defiantly. "Jake's brother is a Controller. Every day he goes home and has to sit at the same table as the slug who's holding his brother captive. He's our leader, and he has to live with the enemy! Can you imagine what that's like? Having to try and act normal while you know the truth, that the thing you're joking with or talking about last night's game with isn't really him, that's he's really trapped in his own body, trying hard to scream, to get back control." Xander's gaze began to drop. "For years Marco thought his mother was dead. Turns out she's a Controller too, and one of the highest ranking ones. We might have to kill her to end this. Tobias, in his first mission, got trapped in the body of a hawk. He gave up his whole life because of his responsibility."  
  
Xander looked back up, his gaze much softer than before. "Look, I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't realize quite how bad it was. You live in a town like this you start to think there can't possibly be anything worse."  
  
"Unfortunately there is." Rachel replied. "We're living it, and we want it to end."  
  
"How can we help?" Willow asked, putting on her resolve face.  
  
"Yeah." Dawn added. "I want to help too, and umm, Ax, why are you staring at me?" Everyone turned to look at Ax, who had focused all four of his eyes intently on Dawn.  
  
{I'm sorry.} He apologized, averting his gaze. {It's just, it's nothing.}  
  
{Ax-man what's up?} Tobias asked privately.  
  
{I do not know, my friend. Something about Dawn does not feel right, but it feels familiar at the same time. I cannot, as you say, put my finger on it.}  
  
{Huh.} Tobias replied, {Well let me know if you figure it out.} Tobias turned back to the conversation to see Buffy and Jake discussing possible morphs.  
  
"So a vampire is out then?" Buffy asked.  
  
Jake nodded. "If it's really dead, then yes. Not all demons are dead, right?  
  
Buffy shook her head. "Nope, just vampires."  
  
"A Polgara demon could be a good a good morph." Giles added. "They're a little rare, but there might be one or two in town. Fast, strong, and they have retractable spikes in their arms."  
  
"Sounds a little better than teeth and claws." Rachel said approvingly.  
  
"Okay, so tonight we look for a Polgara demon." Buffy said. "I'll go see if I can't get some information now. By the way, what was that huge responsibility you mentioned?"  
  
"Since you know who we are, then if the Yeerks get you, they know who we are too. That means if you're ever in a situation where one or all of you are going to be taken as hosts, well, let's just say that you can't, under any circumstances. If you do, it's over. We won't have a chance, and neither will Earth. Am I clear?" Jake asked, his eyes revealing the hidden message. 'Do not get caught, kill yourself if you have to.'  
  
Buffy nodded. "Got it. Did everyone else get that?"  
  
The group nodded solemnly.  
  
"Good." Jake finished. "I'm also going to talk to my sources. Tobias and Ax will come with, Rachel, Marco, and Cassie will stay here. I'll be back in a couple of hours or so."  
  
Buffy left, and Jake and Ax quickly morphed into their bird morphs, then Willow opened the back door for them and the group of three birds took off. {So where are we going?} Tobias asked.  
  
{I set up a meeting with Erek.} Jake replied. {I want to double check that this town is Yeerk free.}  
  
The group flew for about an hour before landing in a small quarry, where Erek was waiting for them, disguised as a large rock. Once the group had landed, Erek expanded his hologram to cover all of them. "Jake, Ax, Tobias how're things?" He asked.  
  
{Not bad Erek. Seems we may have made some good allies. So what's the word on the town?} Jake asked.  
  
"The town is Yeerk free. Seems the high death rate has discouraged them from building any sort of installation there. I wanted you to know that something is going on though."  
  
{What do you mean?} Tobias asked.  
  
"The Yeerks are trying to infiltrate a military complex in Colorado, something is going on there and they have no idea what it is. Anyway, if nothing else this means that you'll have some time to do what you need here. Meet me back here in two days and if I have any more info on what's going on in Colorado, then I'll tell you then."  
  
Jake nodded his feathered head. {Thanks Erek, see you later.} The three birds turned and took off and headed back to Sunnydale. {Okay guys,} Jake said excitedly, {let catch us a demon.}  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Sorry about the wait, I know it's been a while. Anyway, decision time for you guys. Should I cross this with SG-1 too, or should Colorado be a dead end. Review and let me know what you think! 


End file.
